First, we will briefly acknowledge movements made by the White House and McConnell so that your questions are answered. Then we encourage you to not worry about them at all. Keep calling your Senators and focus on the bipartisan negotiations. Don't give these attempts to derail real relief any airtime or energy.
McConnell continues to advocate for his small proposal. We try to be open-minded to all people at ExtendPUA.org, but at this point, he is an obstructionist and does not want anything to pass without his liability protections for corporations. You can read more about his vile work here. He offered to forego the liability protections, but only if they also removed all funding for state and local governments (necessary for UI distribution infrastructure and food assistance programs). Pelosi said no. Our best advice, and indeed the collective calling of our bipartisan coalition partners, is to ignore him. Instead, put pressure on the other Republicans in the Senate to back the bipartisan proposal. Tell them what you need. Tell them they have to choose their constituents over McConnell's proposal that is not focused on The People.
The White House also put forth a troubling proposition yesterday to provide $600 stimulus checks instead of any FPUC. This is an attempt to distract us and to pit people who need the unemployment supplement against people who need stimulus checks. We should remain united. We will fight for both. Ignore the White House. There is a viable bipartisan proposal brewing. The WH is providing only distraction.
Moving on to the real work...
The bipartisan group of Senators and Representatives is continuing to work an emergency package. We should amplify and focus on their efforts. We need a bill now and this is the only way we will get it. We also need to keep pushing them to include the things we need. A 6 page summary of their current proposal has been circulating and is here.
This is the part of it that is about unemployment insurance:
That means 16 additional weeks for all PEUC and PUA claims and FPUC $300.
The FPUC is cut in half and not retroactive AT ALL. We will not receive payments for August-December. That is not acceptable. We need to call and demand retroactivity. For the reasons why and scripts and phone numbers for calling go to ExtendPUA.org/strategy
We also put out a report of our survey findings, which strongly proves not only the need for retroactivity, but also the need for stimulus checks. That report, with plenty of important facts and pie charts for sharing, is at ExtendPUA.org/report. There is bipartisan push for adding stimulus checks to the emergency bill, with both Senators Hawley and Sanders championing the need.
We will keep you updated here. We don't need to pontificate about what MIGHT be in the bill or might not. Just keep calling and telling your stories and talking about what you need. We will keep the scripts updated at ExtendPUA.org/strategy. But YOU have to call with us. Demand your Senators take action for you.